


a walk in the garden of words

by hanjingyi (notbadbrat)



Series: writober2018 [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dorks in Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Smooching, Writober 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 11:31:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16853221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notbadbrat/pseuds/hanjingyi
Summary: He had seen the way Levi looked at him, and it was the same way Eren gazed at the raven haired boy, with longing and care, when the other wasn’t watching.They were ridiculously cute.





	a walk in the garden of words

**Author's Note:**

> Rating Green (blue list) for #4 Writober 2018

“I said I’m not going to!”

“You’re such a pussy”

“That’s not true!”

“Come on, man, what’s the big deal?”

The senior student sighed, hand running on his nape and nails scratching it nervously, eyes not lifting from his feet. Two of his teammates were around him, still in their soccer’s training uniform, gazing at him as if he was a lost cause. And maybe he was.

Jean opened his mouth, probably to yell some more insult at him, but Reiner’s hand on his bicep halted him. They exchanged a wary look, that made the two toned haired boy hesitate and then resile from what he had wanted to say.

The blond turned toward Eren again, regarding his hunched form and dangly arms with careful judgment. He was well aware of how worried his friend was about making the good impression, not coming out too strong or always saying the right thing, but he thought that the whole deal was totally unmotivated. He had seen the way Levi looked at him, and it was the same way Eren gazed at the raven haired boy, with longing and care, when the other wasn’t watching.

They were ridiculously cute.

“Dude” he started, taking a seat beside him on the bench on the side of the field and putting his large palm on his shoulder. “I know it can be scary, this stuff always is. That’s why I stay away from relationships, honestly.”

“Reiner!” Jean hissed, eyes wide open and head shaking furiously, gesturing with his chin at Eren.  _Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say_ , he thought, when the sight of Eren crouched forward was replaced by the same boy looking at him with furrowed brows.

“I mean- forget what I just said” his mouth rushed, clumsily, gaping a bit before following his brain’s advice and shutting for a second.

_Okay Braun, you got this_ , he told himself. He tried to evoke the wise team captain’s vibes he knew were in him somewhere and ordered to his mind to summon the right words with which to create an encouraging speech before Eren could just get up and walk away. “What I mean is, you’re not doing yourself a favor by holding your tongue. Your focus is shit, you can’t keep a ball for God sake, you always have this pining look on your face that makes everyone nervous and you smile only when Levi is around. And you refuse to see that he is the same! Just talk to him! Tell him what you feel!”

Jean nodded with fervor.

“Yeah, bro, just go for it!”

Eren sprang up from the bench and started going back and forth under the exasperated glances of his friends. They didn’t realize what was on the line, there, did they? Since Levi had started helping him with homework, his head had steadily but surely started filling with thoughts of the petite, raven haired senior student, with the trill of his company and the numbing feeling his rare smiles gave him and the content, relaxed calmness that washed over him whenever they were together. He couldn’t remember the last time he was in a fight or lost his temperament. It’s was exciting and it was tender and just  _peaceful_ , right, untainted. Sometimes he could feel Levi gaze at him, standing a little too close, meeting his eyes with a light in his own that-

“I- I don’t know how, alright? What if he thinks I’m kidding? Or what if I misinterpreted him- what if he says  _no_? It’s gonna be awkward, and we’d wish we could go back in time so that I’d shut my mouth!”

“If it happens, then that’s life” exclaimed Jean, throwing his arms in the air and rolling his eyes. “But it’s not an excuse for giving up. So metaphorically lift your round ass from here and go. Ask. Him!”

Eren stuck his fingers into his hair and pulled hastily, crunching down on the ground with his knee tucked under his chin.

“No, okay? I don’t want to lose Levi’s friendship because- because I keep dreaming of kissing him and hugging him and spending my time with him in more ways than just- having him tutor me or going out with our friends” the boy said, determination burning in his tone and turquoise eyes digging holes in the ground.

“Yes, uhm, Eren-“

“No” he stopped him, glancing up and fixing Jean with a hard stare, trying to ignore the sudden nervousness straining his friend’s expression. Reiner made him sign to keep quiet with urgency, and the two toned haired boy obeyed, mumbling.

“I’m happy, alright?” Eren went on, poking at the blades of grass and pulling them from the earth, heat leaving his voice a bit. “Everything is fine. I don’t want to ruin things with Levi. I’ll try to focus more on the field, I know I’ve been distracted and I’m sorry, but that’s not the remedy! And even if it was, what would I say?  _Hi Levi, you know, I’ve been in love with you for the past, I don’t know, five months, because you’re the most ridiculously attractive nerd I’ve ever seen and it’s not true that you’re prettier without your glasses, and hey, since I’m an idiot I was too scared to say anything, but anyway, do you want to go out with me?_ “

“Awwwwww, did you hear that, Levi?! HE IS SO CUTE OH MY GGGGGGOD! I’ll marry him if you don’t!”

The first words had Eren twisting around and losing his precarious balance on the tips of his toes, falling with his ass on the ground. But that wasn’t really important.

In his line of sight now there were a very exuberant Hanji vibrating on the spot and staring ecstatic at him, as if he was the best Christmas present she had ever received, and Levi, arms crossed on his chest and face slightly tilted to the side, cheeks pink and lips sealed.

He sat totally frozen, shock and terror gluing him to the spot, eyes jumping from Levi to Hanji and back to him. He hadn’t seen them coming, his back turned in their direction while he had directed his frustration to the grass, but his teammates-

Before he could turn and accuse them of having set him up, Reiner’s hand fell on his head and friendly messed his already tousled hair up, accompanied by: “Sorry, dude, they came out of nowhere and we dived in. It was the only way.”

The walked away, Jean raising his arm without turning and giving him a  _good luck!_ , reaching out for Hanji and dragging her with them, ignoring her protests.

Levi and Eren remained alone.

It took them a bit to do anything other than stare at each other and glance away, suddenly too much awareness between them.

But then Levi moved closer and bent down next to him, hugging his legs and regarding Eren with a pensive look. The boy was still half lying down half propped up on his elbow, watching the raven haired carefully, as if he was a beast ready to attack.

Levi had too many thoughts and emotions swirling into him to worry about giving them a proper order and the attention they needed. Instead, he focused on the here and now, on the itchy feeling on his hands and the words dancing on his tongue.

“So, you dream of kissing and hugging me?

Eren swallowed tensely, feeling heat pervading his face.

“I’m  _prettier_ with my glass on?”

“Uuuh-“

“And I’m a ridiculously attractive nerd?”

Eren groaned, sprawling fully on the grass and putting the palm of his hands on his eyes.

“Oh my God, was I really that bad?”

Levi’s laugh cut through the silence between them, a bit of the tension that hung in the air dissipating. He wasn’t even going to comment about the dirty ground and the state he was in. He didn’t even care.

“Nope. You’re just a dork” the other said, fingers digging in his jeans and gaze never leaving Eren’s laying form. He wanted to touch him, had wished for it for so long that now that he knew for sure that Eren craved the same thing, he didn’t know where to begin from, or if it was wise to do it in the spur of the moment. But he felt  _so_ euphoric, the boy’s involuntary confession still loud and clear in his mind, he could barely contain himself.

“Look, I’m sorry.”

Eren sat up again, leg propped up and arm hanging from the knee, fingers scratching his nape anxiously.

“That shouldn’t have- I mean, I wasn’t sure if you- what I feel it’s not-” he tried, flustered, directing his gaze to the field. “What I’m trying to say is that what you heard it’s true, I just-“

“I’m going to have pity on you and lend you a hand, but this is the last time.”

The soccer player turned, confusion written all over his face, eyelids blinking quickly on equally puzzled turquoise gems, but things became clearer when Levi balanced his body on his knees and his fingers brushed his cheeks, holding him gently in place while he came forward, closing up the distance between them and putting his lips on Eren’s slightly parted ones.

A howl of cheers could be heard from very far, something akin to “alleluja!” reaching the spot they were occupying, and yet neither of them cared a bit.

Levi’s arms surrounded Eren’s neck as the boy did the same and pulled him in by the waist, both of them tumbling to the ground and cackling on each other lips.

Eren kissed him immediately after, mouth enamored with Levi’s already, modeling it with his own with unhurried touches. Breathing in everything that that moment was. Levi’s lips trembled over his, parting and closing on Eren’s with growing need, his grip on his shoulders tightening and the feeling of their bodies brushing filling him with relief and happiness.

How had they managed to wait that long for something so good, so  _right_?

They parted with shining eyes and red cheeks, smiles so big it would be impossible to hide them for the next couple of hours. As if they cared.

“Okay, that was another way to put it.”

“If we waited for you, we could have probably finished high school.”

Eren pouted, pushing himself up a bit and looking at Levi from his sitting position, hovering over him. He was so beautiful, face relaxed and expression calm and peaceful, surrounded by the green field, glancing up at him with so much fondness Eren’s heart clenched painfully in his chest.

“I really, really love you, Levi.”

There. He said it, a whisper in the silence and tone seeping with affection.

Levi blushed heavily, heart in his throat, grass tickling his warm cheeks as he bit his lip to try and suppress another smile. He felt on cloud nine, and he didn’t want either of them to move from there ever again.

“Yeah, I think I already heard that. For five months, right?”

This time, Eren laughed openly and with such fervor his whole body sang with it. 

It was a sight to behold, but one for Levi’s eyes only.

“That was your clue to say  _me too, darling_ ” he joked, fingers brushing the raven-haired boy’s face distractingly, then recoiling slightly. “Not that I’m forcing you or anything, I-“

Levi stopped him immediately.

“I love you too, Eren. I have for a while.”

Those words were exactly what Eren’s dreams were made of. Sure, he hadn’t imagined them like that, with Levi laying on the soccer field following his afternoon training, gazing at him with blue-gray eyes full of wonder -as if Eren led him exactly where he had always wanted to be- and him hovering over the other with trembling features and heart bursting in his ribcage. But that was okay. More than okay.

He wouldn’t want it in any other way.


End file.
